One remains hospitalized after bus wreck

Posted: Wednesday, January 07, 2009

By Roger Nielsen

All three students aboard a school bus that spun into a ditch Tuesday afternoon were sent home from Athens Regional Medical Center after being checked for injuries, though one of the adults remained hospitalized.

Two of the students on their way home from Kings Bridge Middle School escaped uninjured when the bus slammed into a ditch and embankment on Marlow Road west of Maysville, said Keith Everson, an assistant superintendent for the Jackson County School System.

One of the students was treated for a concussion and received stitches, Everson said this morning.

The bus driver also was released from the hospital Tuesday night, though she was expected to get a more detailed medical examination today, Everson said.

A bus driver’s aide was kept overnight with a rib injury and a possible spleen injury, he said.

The driver, who has worked for the school district since August 2007, had taken a detour from her regular route because bad weather had caused authorities to close a bridge, Everson said.

The Georgia State Patrol, which is investigating the wreck, was unable to provide information this morning.

However, Everson said the bus went off the shoulder of the road and the driver apparently lost control when she got wheels back onto the pavement. The bus spun around, went into a ditch and leaned into an embankment before dropping back onto its wheels, he said.

“I think the road was pretty curvy,” Everson said, adding that neighors described the stretch where the crash happened as a dangerous part of the road.

One of the students on the bus uses a wheelchair, but was strapped-in securely and was not hurt, he said.

Teachers and school officials remained at the hospital with the students and employees, Everson said. The school system insisted all five get checked out even though two of the students weren’t hurt, he said.